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December 31, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL) News Release


Idaho Steelheads (14-10-7) at Phoenix RoadRunners (10-14-5) 3:00 MT
- Idaho won 5-3 on Saturday at Phoenix and is 4-0-0 against the RoadRunners this season.
- Phoenix is 6-0-3 when leading after the second period.
- Steelheads rookie Colin Sinclair scored a career-best two goals on Saturday against Phoenix.
- Daniel Sisca leads the RoadRunners in December with nine assists and 11 points.



Cincinnati Cyclones (23-6-2) at Trenton Devils (12-15-2) 5:00 ET
- Cincinnati is 3-1-0 against Trenton this season and 9-12-1 all-time against the Devils.
- Trenton is 4-0-1 in their last five games.
- Thomas Beauregard leads the Cyclones against Trenton with four goals.
- Jim Henkel leads the Devils against Cincinnati with four points (2g-2a).



Columbia Inferno (12-13-7) at South Carolina Stingrays (18-9-1) 6:00 ET
- South Carolina has won 11 consecutive games, breaking their team record of 10 wins set Jan. 7-28, 2005.
- Columbia is 88.0 percent (44-for-50) on the penalty kill in December.
- Travis Morin leads the Stingrays against Columbia with six goals and nine points in three games.
- Jeff Miles leads the Inferno against South Carolina with four goals and eight points in three games.



Elmira Jackals (21-7-3) at Johnstown Chiefs (11-17-1) 6:00 ET
- Johnstown won 2-1 in a shootout on Oct. 26 at Elmira and leads the series against the Jackals 1-0-0.
- Elmira is 5-0-2 in its last seven road games to improve to 11-3-2 overall on the road.
- Rookie Alexandre Imbeault leads the Chiefs in December with 12 points (3g-9a).
- Jackals' Benoit Doucet is on a five-game goal streak (5g) and has 15 points (7g-8a) in December.



Charlotte Checkers (12-11-4) at Augusta Lynx (17-11-3) 7:05 ET
- Charlotte is 2-1-1 this season against Augusta and 27-24-8 all-time against the Lynx.
- Augusta has won its last three home games to improve to 12-3-0 at home this season.
- Kenton Smith leads Charlotte defensemen with 11 assists and 13 points in 27 games.
- John Laliberte has two game-winning goals and six points (3g-3a) in Augusta's last seven games.



Dayton Bombers (13-8-7) at Wheeling Nailers (9-19-3) 7:05 ET
- Dayton is 4-2-1 against Wheeling this season and 59-61-17 all-time against the Nailers.
- Wheeling ranks eighth in the ECHL on the power play at home with 21.9 percent (17-for-80).
- Bombers' Masahito Nishiwaki has seven points (4g-3a) in his last five games.
- David Laliberte (3g-4a) and Sean Collins (2g-5a) lead the Nailers against Dayton with seven points each.



Utah Grizzlies (13-13-3) at Alaska Aces (17-9-3) 7:15 AT
- Alaska won 7-4 on Saturday and is 1-0-1 in the season series and 16-4-3 all-time against the Grizzlies.
- Utah ranks fourth in the ECHL on the power play on the road with 20.8 percent (16-for-77).
- Aces' defenseman Peter Metcalf had four points (1g-3a) on Saturday against Utah.
- Utah's Olivier Labelle scored his first career hat trick and tied career best with three points on Saturday.

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Premier 'AA' Hockey League Fast Facts

- Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08, the ECHL is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.

- ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 25 teams playing 900 games in 17 states and British Columbia in 2007-08.

- The league officially changed its name to ECHL on May 19, 2003.

- Affiliations with 26 of the 30 teams in the National Hockey League, marking the 11th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.

- 340 former ECHL players have played in NHL.

- 11 former ECHL players have made their NHL debut this season: former Roanoke Express and former Wheeling Nailers left wing Jason Jaffray (Vancouver on Dec. 12), former Toledo Storm goaltender Drew MacIntyre (Vancouver on Dec. 13), former San Diego Gulls left wing Cody McLeod (Colorado on Dec. 19), former Columbia Inferno center Brandon Nolan (Carolina on Dec. 22), former Johnstown Chiefs and Fresno Falcons goaltender Dmitri Patzold (San Jose on Oct. 7), former Reading Royals goaltender Jonathan Quick (Los Angeles on Dec. 6), former Stockton left wing Liam Reddox (Edmonton on Dec. 7), former Gwinnett left wing Colin Stuart (Atlanta on Dec. 29), former San Diego goaltender Tyler Weiman (Colorado on Oct. 4), former Charlotte right wing Craig Weller (Phoenix on Oct. 4) and former Phoenix RoadRunners center Daniel Winnik (Phoenix Coyotes on Oct. 4).

- There were 69 former ECHL players on NHL opening-day rosters and there have been 195 former ECHL players who have played their first game in the NHL in the past six seasons.

- Twenty-six former ECHL players made their NHL debut in 2006-07, including two who played in both the ECHL and the NHL as goaltender Yutaka Fukufuji played for Reading and Los Angeles while defenseman Bryan Young skated for Stockton and Edmonton. Dave McKee played for Augusta and dressed for five games as the backup goaltender for Stanley Cup champion Anaheim.

- Record 51 former ECHL players played their first NHL game in 2005-06.

- ECHL has been represented on last seven Stanley Cup champions.

- There are 15 coaches in the NHL who have ECHL experience including former Wheeling coach Peter Laviolette, who is head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and former Mississippi coach Bruce Boudreau, who is head coach of the Washington Capitals.

- ECHL has been represented on last 18 Calder Cup champions.

- ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 29 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 18 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.

- The Stockton Thunder and the City of Stockton will host the Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Game presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light at Stockton Arena on Jan. 23, 2008 and the Chase Chevrolet ECHL All-Star Skills Competition presented by Jackson Rancheria and Bud Light on Jan. 22, 2008.

- In the last five seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 2,000 call-ups involving more than 1,000 players since 2002-03.
ECHL and its member teams contributed nearly $3 million for charity and relief funds in 2006-07.

- Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com.

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ECHL Stories from December 31, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.


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